A Melongenidae Crush
by disquietservitude
Summary: I've met whelks with better skill." Alas, poor whelk. What happened to the Whelk? How did he feel about Charles? One sided WhelkxCharles
1. A Melongenidae Crush

Title: A Melongenidae crush

Characters: Charles/Whelk

Disclaimer: I do not own said characters or series, credit goes entirely to the lovely and talented Nuu and Cloverx

Resting in my clean little Petri dish in Oceanography, I spotted him among others right away. How could I not fall in love? How could I not long to be near him?

That pale blonde hair, falling so fetchingly over one eye. That acerbic wit, those sparkling sarcastic eyes. I knew we were meant to be with one another.

Charles was the salt to my sea. The moon to my tides. The sweet warm homesands of my birth. I quivered in my calcium carbonate shell as he approached, wishing for once for a pretty shell of pink and green and violet, instead of the sensible tan and brown and white streaks I sported.

"Hello Whelk." He murmured to me, mounting the stool by the counter and peering down at me. I blobbed at him enticingly. "Today we're observing you in your natural habitat hmm? How incredibly stimulating." I knew he was being snarky, but I couldn't help but blush a becoming orange shade. He was _talking_ to me! True I couldn't talk back, but surely the language of love transcended all barriers, yes?

Scooping up my little Petri dish, Charles carried me gently over to a warm tank of water, tipping me in and crouching beside it to watch me sink gradually to the bottom. I did what Whelks do best… I scavenged. Being a carnivore, I showed Charles how I used the strong muscular part of my body to hold prey down as I devoured them. His face was distorted through the glass, but his attention was one hundred percent on me. How glorious! I preened. I bobbed. I floated to the top of the tank, into his waiting hand.

Charles plucked me from the water and held me before his face, examining my shell, my proboscis, my straining vulnerable flesh, tenderly clinging to his thumb.

"You're a feisty little Melongenidae aren't you?" He eyed me consideringly, and I could tell he was intrigued by the force with which I sucked at his fingers. "You suck like a mouth. Don't eat my hand, okay?" I obligingly softened the force of my suction. Of course I would never hurt my beloved. I ogled him, trying to cuddle into the warmth of his hand. Oh Charles, Charles, Charles. I could feel myself expanding in my shell, under the gaze of the object of my affections. I wanted to break free, and show him how I could protect him from the predators of the world, the boys who teased and shot him dubious glances. I could tell that beneath that devil-may-care attitude, that truly he was a sensitive soul.

"I like you Whelk."

I like you too Charles!

"You don't talk back to me. You acknowledge that I am superior, and know all."

I quivered in complete and utter agreement.

"You live in a small little world Whelk."

You're all the world I need, Charles.

"I don't have to constantly look out for you. Make sure you don't get in trouble with certain Jocks. You can take care of yourself, in your little marine world."

No you don't have to take care of me. I'll be big and brave and strong for you Charles. You can come live in my shell with me.

"You're not so popular I have to fight a horde of scene kids to even talk to you. Not that I would talk to him… like we even have anything in common, other than May…"

Okay… you lost me Charles. I don't know what you're talking about. But that's alright my love, keep speaking, I don't mind listening. I suction gently at his palm. His faraway gaze focuses and sharpens on me, and I preen. I preen better than any Marine Gastropod Mollusk has ever preened. Charles smiles at me. I melt into a tiny little pile of saltwater flavored goo on his hand.

"I imagine kissing him would be like being sucked by your little muscles Whelk." His tone is mocking, but I don't care. "Would you like to kiss me?"

…

I love you Charles.


	2. A Busycon Letter

Title: A Busycon Letter

Pairing: Charles/Whelk

Summary: Whelk says goodbye to Charles.

Disclaimer: All Characters belong entirely to Nuu and Schumie. I merely stole them for a brief amount of time.

Author's note: I couldn't help it. I'm just sad it's not as good as the original. No, I didn't write the poem at the end.

Dear Charles,

I've grown since last we met.

Where once I measured a mere 15 centimeters, now I'm nearly 36! I know we once discussed how size doesn't matter over an appetizer of tape measures and science handouts, but now I know how much we've both changed. Where once I thought you had eyes only for me, distorted through the glass of my tank and the romantic atmosphere of gently waving hydrophytes, now I know you'll never be able to see past our differences. On a rainy day you love to curl up with a good book, whereas I love to nibble on a wriggling live clam. You're cynical and refreshingly "realistic," whereas I, alas, have only the sheltered experience of my estuary, and these four walls of glass to keep me cocooned from the harshness of life. You worry about being picked on by the merciless popular kids of society's waters. I worry about being devoured by sharks in the temperate waters of my home. You don't want kids. I already look forward to the strings and strings of eggs I'll someday share with my mate. Ah Charles! I believed once, with all of my calcium carbonate shell, that we could overcome these differences! But your eyes slid away from me whenever someone approached. You couldn't be seen holding me in your palm, you never talk to me when anyone else was around. Are you ashamed of me my beloved? Did you ever care? I promised myself I would make no accusations, I apologize oh shimmer of dancing shell.

Those long afternoons we shared in the lab seem like a dream now. I can't have imagined the wistful longing in your eyes, could I my love? Such deep drowning green, it reminds me of the bed of seaweed I was hatched in, a comfort and silky saltiness I shall never forget. I know you looked on me with fondness, you never considered me your equal. After all, I was only three when we met. Such a vast age difference, yet I was eager to show you my maturity! I can live for 7 years, I can show you devotion, faith, and loyalty. Have you ever known a whelk to be unfaithful. You cannot think of a single example, can you my darling light haired Poseidon? You rule the water within which I swim.

How I long to be with you, even now. Even now as I bid you farewell. I'm being transferred, you see. To the science wing of the new High School. Will you miss me, oh vast basin within which my ocean of thought resides? Will you notice I am gone? Who will listen with sympathetic proboscis, when you complain bitterly of your best friend, your parents, you crush.

Oh yes. I knew.

You never said as much. But his name was so often on your tongue, denouncing his filthy smoking habits, scoffing at his overly colorful friends, narrowly picking apart every interaction you shared with him. Oh jealousy, such a sour and nurturing fruit! I suffered, how I suffered my sweetling, and yet not once did you notice my drooping antennae, my listless foraging along the bottom of the tank. Too caught up in the tight clench of feelings knotted in your chest.

I assure you, I've not grown bitter. Despite the "amusing" little poem your friend Jay posted on the bulletin board by my tank, still I was able to force a cheerful disposition for you. (I will leave it for you at the end of this letter, and perhaps you will see how hurtful such slander and lighthearted slaughter was to my own heavy heart.) Still I hoped that someday, we two would swim towards a mutual understanding, towards each other. When you remembered my eating habits, and brought me a bit of crab from home, dropping the pinch of delicate morselage into my waters, I was the happiest Marine Gastopod that had ever crawled. I felt sure then…. But no. It was just a kindness born of your overly sensitive, hidden heart. For I know, Charles, that a heart beats beneath that mask of sardonic humor. I only wish you had let me in.

The janitors are coming, mi amor, in the morning. The space where my tank resided will be a paler yellow than the rest of the counter, how long until your lingering eyes register that I am gone? I have chipped off a slice of my shell, pale grayish pink and glowing with my dedication to you. I have left it with the family of tree frogs in the Amazonian rainforest exhibit, they promised to take good care of it until you could appear and claim it, as you once claimed my soul so fiercely, so unknowing. It pained me to break off a piece of my shell, but it hurt me far more that I could not say good bye in person. My heart, my heart, my heart is breaking. Shall we ever see each other again? Will I ever feel your finger, dry and warm, stroking absentmindedly along my shell? If there is a God for Melongenidae Mollusks, surely they will hear my fervent prayers and reunite us someday.

All my hopes and prayers go to you, my beloved.

Whelk

Three little whelks from Poole

Three little whelks from Poole are we,

Filled to the gills with whelk-like glee,

Univalve all, as you'll agree,

Three little whelks from Poole!

Every part of our shells is grey,

That's of naught in the mud anyway,

Here on the estuary floor we'll stay,

Three little whelks from Poole!

Three little whelks all quite unwary,

Live on the bed of an estuary,

Under the keel of the harbour ferry,

Three little whelks from Poole!

Three little whelks from Poole!

One little whelk is enticed by a crumb,

Caught on a hook from a boat, come, come,

Served in a chowder, yum-yum-yum!

Two little whelks from Poole!

Two little whelks from Poole!

Two little whelks having reached their coda,

All of the genus Gastropoda,

Slightly possessed of a fishy odour,

Two little whelks from Poole!

Two little whelks from Poole!

-anonymous


End file.
